Nucor set to begin hiring for La. plant

The Associated Press

November 6, 2012 10:32 AM

The Associated Press

November 6, 2012 10:32 AM

Two major milestones have been met in the construction of Nucor Corp.'s direct-reduced iron plant in Convent, and the steel corporation is set to begin hiring next week for the second phase of its proposed $3.4 billion steel facility.

In the past week or so, storage domes have been inflated on the site to hold iron ore, Les Hart, Nucor Steel Louisiana general manager said. The domes are still undergoing internal construction, he told The Advocate ( http://bit.ly/T4B1IW).

The second milestone is the arrival of a furnace vessel, made in Texas and shipped to the construction site via the Mississippi River, Hart said. The team set up and completed the structure in just seven days, he said.

This $750 million first construction phase is expected to bring in 150 jobs by the end of 2012, the company has said.

The full, five-phase steel facility, on 4,000 acres of the parish's east bank, will produce 1,250 permanent jobs, according to Nucor Corp.

Other stages of the project call for a second direct-reduced iron plant, a pellet plant and a blast furnace. The final stage calls for a $750 million steel mill.

Currently, there are 644 contractors on-site, with more than 30 percent of them local hires, Hart said.

Nucor is ending its first round of employee-training and will start hiring Monday for the facility's second phase of construction. This second round of hiring will bring the total number of employees for the first phase to 150, Hart said. Applicants can go to http://www.nucorjobslouisiana.com, he said.